Planning a leisurely coastal cycle tour around Ireland

Rob A. Bank

Having cycled a Mizen to Malin (including the South Pole to the North Pole en route) and a west coast to east coast cycle, I tried to plot a coastal cycle route around Ireland… but it’s like trying to trace your way around the edge of a fractal design !

You need something physical to aim at… but what and where ?

I rejected lighthouses because so many are on offshore islands and rocks. The headlands mentioned in the Met Eireann weather forecast would miss out on some of the great scenic peninsulas, as would the cardinal points of the island. The route of the Round Ireland Race was not really a coastal route but one apparently planned to straddle as many mountain ranges as possible.

I came across this great site by Tim Schmelzer, an Austrian photographer, who photographed the sites of all 83 of the Republic’s World War 2 lookout posts (LOPs) and the panoramas they look out on, also some arty photos where he projected images on the ones that are still standing. http://www.lookoutpost.com/geo/lop1/ click on the red spots to get the Lat/Long coordinates and the panorama for each lookout post. See also :

Two of the LOPs are on islands, LOP 50 on Inishmore and LOP 75 on Arranmore, but both islands have good ferry services. LOP 32 called Dursey Head is actually on Bull Head on the mainland.

The plan is to get to, or as close as possible to, the sites of all of these WW2 concrete relics. Some orienteering/mountaineering/bog-trotting will be necessary to reach some of the LOPs, but that just adds spice to the trip for me (and some respite for the inevitable saddle sore ass).

It strikes me that if ’the powers that be’ produced a mapped cycling/walking route, along the quieter roads, from the first LOP to the last one, it would be a fabulous draw for tourists and locals alike, situated as they are with all the best sea views in Ireland. It would not cost a fortune to do this, even in these straightened times, and you could do as much or as little of the route as you want, anytime you reach the coastline.

I hope I am not re-inventing the wheel here… but I could find nothing about a route like this on Google or on the boards. Has anyone tried something like this ? I would appreciate feedback/comments on this mad plan. ;-)

More info...

In the uncertain early days of the World War Two the Irish government sought to take action to protect the neutrality it had declared in September 1939. It was decided that a series of look-out posts (LOPs) would be build at strategic points around the Irish coast to monitor belligerent activity and to provide an early warning system for any invasion.

83 posts were built between 1939 and 1942, five to twenty miles apart, along the 1,970 mile (3,170 km) coastline from Ballagan point in Louth to Inishowen Head in Donegal. Local volunteers worked 24 hours around the clock in groups of two in each look-out post, on 8 or 12 hour shifts for the duration of the war. One man remained inside the post operating the phone while the other patrolled outside. They reported every military activity they observed in the sea and air in the vicinity of their LOP by phone to Military Intelligence (G2) in Dublin.

The huts were built on site to an identical design from 137 pre-cast concrete blocks. They also constructed large 12m x 6m whitewashed EIRE signs near the posts, as daytime navigation aids visible to passing aircraft, alerting pilots that they were over neutral Ireland. Later in the war the EIRE signs were numbered as a navigational aid to Allied airmen.

Its a great pity to see that only 51 of the original 83 are still standing and that most of the EIRE signs are lost under the sod.

‘Guarding Neutral Ireland’ The Coast Watching Service and military intelligence, 1939–1945
http://www.fourcourtspress.ie/reviews.php?intProductID=785

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phv3HoxH1qs&feature=player_embedded

Plutonium Kun

Its a lovely idea - I've been mulling over a coastal tour with the more mundane aim of riding every beach and cliff walk (thinking of getting a fat tyred Surly to do it). But a theme like the look-out posts, or the Napoleonic watchtowers (which are often on similar sites) is a very nice thought.

There is a book (I can't remember which publisher) which gives a mapped tour of Irelands coast, but its road based. There are no coastal routes for a surprising amount of the coastline - its almost impossible to really follow the coast by bike (or even by foot) for very long stretches of the west coast.

Ole Rodrigo

I agree - the best approach would be a basic route that you could use as a sort of backbone ( like the RAI route ) and then plot your coastal spins from there. Ive done similar to this myself over two trips, I must take a look and see what parts were along the coast. The problem in Ireland with something like this is most areas of interest are not connected, so inevitably there is some inland routes you have to take on national roads to get to the next spot. Unless you have unlimited time and resources but its likely you'll have to compromise when you factor in time, budget, places to stay etc.

smacl

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

It strikes me that if ’the powers that be’ produced a mapped cycling/walking route, along the quieter roads, from the first LOP to the last one, it would be a fabulous draw for tourists and locals alike, situated as they are with all the best sea views in Ireland. It would not cost a fortune to do this, even in these straightened times, and you could do as much or as little of the route as you want, anytime you reach the coastline.

Sounds like an absolute blast. If I didn't have work and family commitments I'd love to do something like this. Maybe document it, write it up and either flog it to the powers that be or publish it independently. Bord failte and the historic monuments section of the OPW could be worth approaching.

Plutonium Kun

smacl wrote: »

Sounds like an absolute blast. If I didn't have work and family commitments I'd love to do something like this. Maybe document it, write it up and either flog it to the powers that be or publish it independently. Bord failte and the historic monuments section of the OPW could be worth approaching.

Our coastline is one of the many neglected resources of this country. Its not until you visit the coast with a visitor from an inland country (as I did recently with some Chinese and American friends) that you realise how blown away they are by the beauty. An round Ireland walk/cycle would be an amazing tourist draw. Unfortunately, the old issues of access to private land and liability issues ensures that public authorities are loath to take it on. Unfortunately, our laws (as the people of Cork found out when trying to protect public access to the Old Head of Kinsale) are heavily weighted in favour of land owners.

Rob A. Bank

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

Its a lovely idea - I've been mulling over a coastal tour with the more mundane aim of riding every beach and cliff walk (thinking of getting a fat tyred Surly to do it). But a theme like the look-out posts, or the Napoleonic watchtowers (which are often on similar sites) is a very nice thought.

I also considered the 50 Martello towers and the 81 Napoleonic signal towers as the basis for a coastal cycling route… however some of them are on inaccessible offshore islands like Ireland’s Eye, Dalkey Island, InishTurk and Golam Head. The only map I could find of them was a small one in an article in Archeology Ireland Summer 2012.
http://photopol.com/dca4/archirl_towers.pdf

The advantage of the WW2 Lookout Posts Coastal Trail is that Herr Schmelzer has provided all the Lat/Long coordinates and I have identified them all on Google maps or Bing maps. BTW Bing maps is far better and clearer for looking at the west of Ireland.

Your idea of a cycle along all the Irish beaches sounds idylic, the OPW Oblique Imagery Survey of the coast by helicopter might help you with the planning.
http://www.coastalhelicopterview.ie/imf5104/imf.jsp?site=Helicopter

Plutonium Kun

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

Your idea of a cycle along all the Irish beaches sounds idylic, the OPW Oblique Imagery Survey of the coast by helicopter might help you with the planning.
http://www.coastalhelicopterview.ie/imf5104/imf.jsp?site=Helicopter

I wasn't aware of that OPW survey, thanks for the link, its a fantastic resource. And thanks for the heads up on Bing Maps too, googlemaps is a bit frustrating west of Cork.

cdaly_

You might consider Peter Lynch's Rambling Round Ireland for a walking perspective.

Raam

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

I also considered the 50 Martello towers and the 81 Napoleonic signal towers as the basis for a coastal cycling route… however some of them are on inaccessible offshore islands like Ireland’s Eye...

There are boats out to Ireland's Eye which you can just turn up and jump on to for a few quid. It's a nice spot to explore for an afternoon. You can climb up to the top of the Martello Tower. I wouldn't bother trying to cycle on it though.

Rob A. Bank

cdaly_ wrote: »

You might consider Peter Lynch's Rambling Round Ireland for a walking perspective.

Thank you for that link... he sounds like an interesting guy and his book a good read.

My only hope is that it does not also take me 13 years to complete the round Ireland trip.

Rob A. Bank

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

Our coastline is one of the many neglected resources of this country. Its not until you visit the coast with a visitor from an inland country (as I did recently with some Chinese and American friends) that you realise how blown away they are by the beauty. An round Ireland walk/cycle would be an amazing tourist draw. Unfortunately, the old issues of access to private land and liability issues ensures that public authorities are loath to take it on. Unfortunately, our laws (as the people of Cork found out when trying to protect public access to the Old Head of Kinsale) are heavily weighted in favour of land owners.

I completely agree with you about the neglected beauty of our coastline, well illustrated by the gallery of 83 panoramas from the lookoutpost site.

Is all access to the Old Head of Kinsale impossible now ?

Plutonium Kun

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

I completely agree with you about the neglected beauty of our coastline, well illustrated by the gallery of 83 panoramas from the lookoutpost site.

Is all access to the Old Head of Kinsale impossible now ?

I'm not completely up to date on it, but a few years ago locals lost a case in the High Court to enforce a planning condition on the golf course which provided for public access. The High Court decided that the local authority did not have the powers to force the owners to allow access. So far as I know the area is secured against access to anyone who doesn't have a pot belly and a silly coloured pringle sweater.

Rob A. Bank

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

I'm not completely up to date on it, but a few years ago locals lost a case in the High Court to enforce a planning condition on the golf course which provided for public access. The High Court decided that the local authority did not have the powers to force the owners to allow access. So far as I know the area is secured against access to anyone who doesn't have a pot belly and a silly coloured pringle sweater.

I could probably manage the pot belly but I draw the line at wearing the pringle sweater

I wonder if anyone else knows the present situation with regard to public access to the Old Head of Kinsale ?

I understand there was/is difficulty with access to Wicklow Head also in recent years because of a landowner's objections. Does anyone know the present state of play there ?

fixie fox

"It strikes me that if ’the powers that be’ produced a mapped cycling/walking route, along the quieter roads, from the first LOP to the last one, it would be a fabulous draw for tourists and locals alike, situated as they are with all the best sea views in Ireland. It would not cost a fortune to do this, even in these straightened times, and you could do as much or as little of the route as you want, anytime you reach the coastline.

I hope I am not re-inventing the wheel here… but I could find nothing about a route like this on Google or on the boards. Has anyone tried something like this ? I would appreciate feedback/comments on this mad plan. ;-)"

One of the joys of your type of project is finding the route 'less trodden'. Doing your own route and finding the unexpected will be more satisfying if 'The Journey' is your priority.

Plutonium Kun

fixie fox wrote: »

I hope I am not re-inventing the wheel here… but I could find nothing about a route like this on Google or on the boards. Has anyone tried something like this ? I would appreciate feedback/comments on this mad plan. ;-)"

One of the joys of your type of project is finding the route 'less trodden'. Doing your own route and finding the unexpected will be more satisfying if 'The Journey' is your priority.

I've only seen this in Easons, but this book gives a coastal riding route (road only I think). I had a browse through and it looked very comprehensive, but I don't think the route is 'official'.

Rob A. Bank

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

I've only seen this in Easons, but this book gives a coastal riding route (road only I think). I had a browse through and it looked very comprehensive, but I don't think the route is 'official'.

Thank you for that link Plutonium.

The number of 'official' cycling routes in this country is very painfully small. We really need an organisation like Sustrans here to push for more bike friendly trails.

Joxer_S

http://www.racearoundireland.com/race-route.asp

Here is the route that the race around Ireland uses.

GreyEagle

We could do this ourselves as a Boards.ie Group Cycle Project. All we need is an agreed set of criteria to be researched, e.g., route, POIs, photos, Cafes with scones!, and a designated person to whom all data would be sent. I would be up for the first stretch from Carlingford to Rush.

el tel

There was a guy who started a thread here a few years ago about riding around the entire coast of the island. I don't know if he ever did it, or if he's locked up in someone's shed in the county Antrim bible belt, but the trip did seem to be at advanced planning/dreaming stage.

Plutonium Kun

GreyEagle wrote: »

We could do this ourselves as a Boards.ie Group Cycle Project. All we need is an agreed set of criteria to be researched, e.g., route, POIs, photos, Cafes with scones!, and a designated person to whom all data would be sent. I would be up for the first stretch from Carlingford to Rush.

Sounds a great idea, although i think it would be hard to get everyone to agree on what a 'coastal' ride might be - lots of the coast is very inaccessible.

MPFG

Plutonium Kun wrote: »

Sounds a great idea, although i think it would be hard to get everyone to agree on what a 'coastal' ride might be - lots of the coast is very inaccessible.

I could help with Clare including camping sites, B&B and reststops, sites of attraction
I would do the coastal road from Kilimer (from/to Kerry), Cappa, Moyasta, Querrin,Carrigaholt, Kilbaha, Loop head and then back through KIlkee , White Strand , Doonbeg,Mullagh, Spanish point, Laninch, Liscannor, cliffs of Moher, Doolin ( need good breaks) Ballyvaughan and the Burren, Corkscrew Hill ( more good breaks) and on to Galway

There are some secondary coastal roads that are not used and the views are great but the road quality is not great
Beautiful county with spectacular coasline

Rob A. Bank

(note to self) * Stay away from the county Antrim bible belt and the Deliverance style duelling banjos !

Thank you MPFG and GreyEagle... that is 2 long stretches of the coastline covered and 10 of the 83 LOPs.

Anyone can trace a route on a map, but there is no substitute for local knowledge when it comes to the best route, state of the road, best cafe, camping sites, B&Bs and rest stops etc.

Rob A. Bank

I have found a possible add-on to the Look Out Posts (LOPs) Trail or perhaps it might even be worthy of a trail of it’s own.

As I mentioned before, during WW2 large 12m x 6m whitewashed EIRE signs were constructed near all the LOPs, as daytime navigation aids visible to passing aircraft, alerting pilots that they were over neutral Ireland. Later in the war the EIRE signs were numbered as a navigational aid to the USAF who were ferrying aircraft and materiel across the Atlantic in the run up to D-Day.

The majority of these signs have disappeared under the sod but a surprising number have survived all along the west coast.

I came across this site where the existing EIRE signs have been identified using web available satellite imagery. 26 of them have been found so far and are marked on this Bing map. (click on the ‘Bird’s eye’ dropdown menu, then ‘Aerial’ and zoom in for close-ups of the signs)

The EIRE sign at Loop Head (Co. Clare) has been resurrected by a local community group. The ones at Baltimore (West Cork), Inishmore (Aran Islands), Benwee Head (Co. Mayo) and Melmore Head (Co. Donegal) also appear to have been restored. I also understand that some years ago a gorse fire on Howth Head revealed an EIRE sign there, but it has disappeared under the gorse since. I am sure more of them would be found and resurrected if tourists started looking for them !

Visiting them all is possibly another idea for a shorter coastal cycling trail all along our most scenic west coast.

It would be nice to remember the dedicated men of the Irish WW2 Coastwatch Service if the remaining LOPs and EIRE signs were to be preserved. It must have been difficult for them during their six-year watch, long cold winter nights perched on headlands or clifftops almost totally exposed to the elements and Atlantic winter storms.

PS.G2, the Coastwatching Service and the Battle of the Atlantic is a good online read.

Plutonium Kun

Rob A. Bank wrote: »

I have found a possible add-on to the Look Out Posts (LOPs) Trail or perhaps it might even be worthy of a trail of it’s own.

As I mentioned before, during WW2 large 12m x 6m whitewashed EIRE signs were constructed near all the LOPs, as daytime navigation aids visible to passing aircraft, alerting pilots that they were over neutral Ireland. Later in the war the EIRE signs were numbered as a navigational aid to the USAF who were ferrying aircraft and materiel across the Atlantic in the run up to D-Day.

The majority of these signs have disappeared under the sod but a surprising number have survived all along the west coast.

I came across this site where the existing EIRE signs have been identified using web available satellite imagery. 26 of them have been found so far and are marked on this Bing map. (click on the ‘Bird’s eye’ dropdown menu, then ‘Aerial’ and zoom in for close-ups of the signs)

The EIRE sign at Loop Head (Co. Clare) has been resurrected by a local community group. The ones at Baltimore (West Cork), Inishmore (Aran Islands), Benwee Head (Co. Mayo) and Melmore Head (Co. Donegal) also appear to have been restored. I also understand that some years ago a gorse fire on Howth Head revealed an EIRE sign there, but it has disappeared under the gorse since. I am sure more of them would be found and resurrected if tourists started looking for them !

Visiting them all is possibly another idea for a shorter coastal cycling trail all along our most scenic west coast.

It would be nice to remember the dedicated men of the Irish WW2 Coastwatch Service if the remaining LOPs and EIRE signs were to be preserved. It must have been difficult for them during their six-year watch, long cold winter nights perched on headlands or clifftops almost totally exposed to the elements and Atlantic winter storms.

PS.G2, the Coastwatching Service and the Battle of the Atlantic is a good online read.

Our coastlines have an amazing history - every time i walk a stretch there is something new to discover. I'm embarrassed to say that its only recently I discovered that the 'tower houses' I found puzzlingly modern looking are actually Napoleonic era signal towers. There are also wonderful iron age promintory forts to be explored, its surprising how many people walk around the Bailey in Howth not realised that the ditches there are from a very impressive iron age fort. At least one guide book I've seen confuses a natural geological depression with that fort.

Brad768

I'm sure me and a couple of others would be more than willing to help organise a route, cafe's etc for Galway

Plutonium Kun

I think a problem with designing a coastal route is that there are so many possible ways of doing it. A simple route would be to just keep to the road closest to the sea. A more ambitious one would involve more off-roading and hike/biking to include coastal paths. An even more ambitious one would be to ride the beaches and rockshelves of the coast - possible only with a specialist bike I think (very fat tyres would be essential).

Plutonium Kun

Here is one way to tour a coast - fat bikes and pack rafts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXrg0lkEJ6k

Rob A. Bank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNjsFzyKJOI

It seems Bord Failte have finally woken up to the beauty of our west coast and are marketing it as a whole, in the form of ‘The Wild Atlantic Way’. I found myself cycling along a lot of it’s route while doing my own coastal cycle.

It is described as a ‘new long distance scenic driving route along the entire west coast of Ireland’ but it would work very well as a cycling route too. It stretching all along the Atlantic coast from Derry to Kinsale with over 150 ‘discovery points’… viewpoints, beaches and places of interest along the way.

Once the route is officially rolled out in 2014 with all signage and other works complete, it will be the longest defined and signed tourist routes in the world at approximately 2,750 km (1,700 miles) in length with plenty more side routes not included. (a lot of the signage is in place already)

They have also produced a series of detailed maps which could be very useful to anyone planning a trip anywhere along the west coast. (SatNav, GPS, Android and Iphone apps will also become available)

Donegal, Letrim and Sligo.

Mayo and Galway.

Clare and Limerick.

Kerry and Cork.